# Structured abbreviation expansion in context

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2110.01140 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2110.01140/

## Key facts

- Cited by 9 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 3 of its 44 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 4 Oct 2021.

## Builds on (most cited first, 3 of 3)

- [Adam: A Method for Stochastic Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1412.6980/) (2014)
- [Design Challenges in Named Entity Transliteration](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1808.02563/) (2018)
- [Minimally Supervised Written-to-Spoken Text Normalization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1609.06649/) (2016)

## Built on by (most cited first, 9 of 9)

- [NameGuess: Column Name Expansion for Tabular Data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.13196/) (2023)
- [Context-Aware Abbreviation Expansion Using Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.03767/) (2022)
- [Columbo: Expanding Abbreviated Column Names for Tabular Data Using Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.09403/) (2025)
- [How Adults Understand What Young Children Say](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.07807/) (2022)
- [Parameter Efficient Tuning Allows Scalable Personalization of LLMs for Text Entry: A Case Study on Abbreviation Expansion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.14327/) (2023)
- [The Overlooked Repetitive Lengthening Form in Sentiment Analysis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.01268/) (2026)
- [Dealing with Abbreviations in the Slovenian Biographical Lexicon](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.02429/) (2022)
- [Building Metadata Inference Using a Transducer Based Language Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.01964/) (2022)
- [Understanding Interpretation Difficulty in Harmful Online Communication: Insights from Cybercrime Communities](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.07277/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Ad hoc abbreviations are commonly found in informal communication channels that favor shorter messages. We consider the task of reversing these abbreviations in context to recover normalized, expanded versions of abbreviated messages. The problem is related to, but distinct from, spelling correction, in that ad hoc abbreviations are intentional and may involve substantial differences from the original words. Ad hoc abbreviations are productively generated on-the-fly, so they cannot be resolved solely by dictionary lookup. We generate a large, open-source data set of ad hoc abbreviations. This data is used to study abbreviation strategies and to develop two strong baselines for abbreviation expansion